Chairman morning session – Andreas Chrysostomou – Tototheo Maritime

10:00 Opening remarks from the organisers – Stella and Adonis Violaris

10.05 – 10.15 Welcome note from Ammitec – Anna Vazintari – Unisee Shipping

10.15 – 10.30 Keynote Speaker morning session - Kostas Katsafados

10.30 – 10.55 Capt. Eugen Adami – Mastermind
“Challenges of the digital transformation with reference to the climate change and digital dictatorship”>
- Technology does not exist to reverse the climate change
- More research is needed to develop alternative fuels
- Maritime training must be developed
- Infrastructure (scalable) is needed for handling alternative fuels
- New technologies must consider total energy balance
- Shipping solutions should not be only task driven
- Society should adopt circular economies

10.55 – 11.15 Stratos Arvanitidis – Angelikousis
“Steps to a digital world onboard” - A brief analysis of an eight years journey

11.15 – 11.45 Panel Discussion – Moderator Andreas Chrysostomou
“How we keep focus on people while developing the technology” (Panellists: Kostas Katsafados, Fulvio Solari, Nikos Ioakeim, Andromachi Demetriou, Eugen Adami)

12.05 – 12.30 Fotis Tsitsirigkos - Euronav

12.30 – 12.55 Alexandros Stathopoulos - Hellas Confidence Shipmanagement S.A.

12.55 – 13.25 Panel Discussion Moderator: Michael Vrettos – RINA
“Cyber in Maritime… when security principles meet operational reality.”
(Panellists: Fotis Tsitsirigkos, George Gkorgkolis - K2 Informatics, Katerina Raptaki – Navios, Alexandros Stathopoulos, Anna Vazintari)

14:15 – 14:25 Keynote Speaker afternoon session - Ioannis Efstratiou
Director Safety and Environmental Protection Directorate - Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry

Chairman afternoon Session – George Zervos – Tototheo Maritime

14.25 – 14.45 David Tropp Hag – KVH
“How will new satellite constellations impact onboard connectivity”

14.45 – 15.05 George Zervos – Tototheo Maritime

15.05 – 15.25 Chris Schonhut – Cobham Satcom Hybrid connectivity

15.45 – 16.15 Andreas Chrysostomou – Tototheo Maritime Vessel Automation
-autonomy of the crew Vs autonomy of the vessel
-Moving Automation Forward
-Human in – the – loop
-Evolution of the autonomous systems

16.15 – 16.40 Frank Paleokrassas – BSM “Analytics, Decarbonisation and Digitalisation in practice”
-Analytics in fleet management
-Decarbonisation progress
-Digitalisation as an integrated business practice

16.40 – 17.05 Christos Papandreou – StormGeo
“How to establish a culture of energy efficiency by utilizing the potential of fleet data”
-Great loss due to vessel fouling
-Data is the key
-Classic vs modern approach in fleet performance
-Best practices for optimum hull and propeller performance
-Establishing an internal culture of energy efficiency in shipping
-Crew support  

17.05 – 17.30 Demetres Armanes – ABS Central Cooling System Automation Upgrades
-What are the benefits and challenges of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in the Maritime Digital Transformation?
-How can automation upgrades in the current fleet, aid with operational efficiency?
-What are the benefits and challenges of the Hardware in the Loop (HiL) testing in the marine industry?  

17.30 - 17.55 Panel Discussion Moderator – Antonios Trakakis –
RINA (Panellists: Vasileios G. Petousis – Seanergy Maritime, Andreas Chrysostomou, Frank Paleokrassas, Christos Papandreou, Demetres Armanes)

Costas Katsafados was born on May 29, 1979, in Piraeus, of Mani and Karpathos descent. He is married to Nora Michaloliakou, and they have a daughter, Kalliopi-Anna.

He holds a BA in Finance from the University of Piraeus and anMA in MBA-Tourism Management.

He was the Head of DAP-NDFK at the University of Piraeus, and in 2007 was elected as Secretary of the Central Committee of ONNED. He served as Vice President of ONNED from 2010 to 2013.

In 2002, at the young age of 23, Costas Katsafados was elected as a local councelor at the Municipality of Keratsini.

In 2004 and for ten consecutive years, his fellow economists had consistently elected him as their representative at the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce (STA).

In 2006 he was elected prefectural councelor of Athens – Piraeus prefecture, receiving more than 25,000 votes.

In the National Εlections of 2012, Katsafados was elected for the first time Member of Parliamentfrom Piraeus A& Islands district. He was reelected in the next twoNational Elections of January and September 2015 respectively.

In 2016, Kyriakos Mitsotakis appointed him as Deputy Head in Environment & Energy sector of the “New Democracy” party.

In the National Elections of July 2019, he was reelected at the first in vote Member of Parliament in Piraeus A & Islands district and was appointed in various Committees of the Parliament.

On January 4, 2021, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, appointed him as Undersecretary of Shipping & Island Policy.

  Ioannis Efstratiou has graduated from National Technical University of Athens in 1991 (Ethniko Metsovio Polytechnio).

  He joined Cyprus Maritime Administration in May 1993.

  From April 2016 up to February 2018, he was temporarily appointed as the Acting Director of Department of Merchant Shipping.

  He was promoted (October 2021) to Director of Safety and Environmental Directorate of Shipping Deputy Ministry.

  He represents Cyprus at both International level (including Marine Environment Protection Committee, IMO) and regional level in numerous technical forums and committees.

  He is member of the Administrative Board of European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), and of the National Committee on Maritime Training.

Mr. Chrysostomou is a seasoned professional in the shipping industry. He holds an MBA (Master’s in Business Administration) and he graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, with a Bachelor of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding.

Mr. Chrysostomou, in his long-standing career, before joining Tototheo Maritime as CSO, was the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping, (the Maritime Authority of Cyprus), CEO of Transmed shipping Co. Ltd. And Act. Secretary General of CLIA Europe.

He also held senior management roles in fields such as safety and security, protection of the marine environment and administration. He also served as the elected Chairman of the Design and Equipment Subcommittee of the IMO and of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), one of the main Committees at IMO. He was twice elected and re-elected Chairman of the International Mobile Satellite Organization and served as member of the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU). He also served as President of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMAREST).

Mr. Chrysostomou’s skills and integrity have been acknowledged by peers, by awarding him the 2011 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Shipping. In November 2011 he has also been presented with the Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, for his invaluable service to International Shipping and in 2013 the GST Award – Leading Shipping Personality of the Decade 2003 – 2013. Furthermore Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou was awarded The Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Award – “International Personality of the Year” 2015.

Andreas Chrysostomou is the CEO of MarineFields Holding but also the Chief Strategy Officer of Tototheo Maritime. He led a long-standing career as a civil servant ending as the Director of Maritime authority of Cyprus, he also served as an acting Secretary General of CLIA Europe. He served as an elected officer in many UN agencies such as the IMO and IMSO and recognised by peers in several occasions.

He is the Owner and Managing Director of the Cyprus-based shipping company Mastermind Group (MSM). Presently MSM manages a fleet of 20 ships consisting of both fully owned vessels and third-party management dry-cargo ships, as well as a series of newbuildings. German-born Captain Adami began his nautical career studying at Elsfleth Nautical University. In addition to his successful merchant marine career Captain Adami has a wealth of experience as master on tall ships, spanning more than 25 years. He has sailed on and captained both the SS Thor Heyerdahl and the SS Grossherzogin-Elizabeth and still retains an association with both sail-training vessels.

Capt. Adami is a Lecturer at the Department of Maritime Transport and Commerce of Frederick University teaching ship and port management. He is the chairman of Cyprus Foundation of the Sea, the marine and maritime cluster organization of Cyprus. Capt. Adami is a past president of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, a trade association of the shipping industry of Cyprus. He is the Director of various Cypriot Shipping and Ship-management companies, as well as the chairman of the Mission to Seafarers in Cyprus and serves as vice president at the Cyprus Maritime Environment Protection Association.

Katerina Raptaki has a leading position in the ICT department of Navios Group of companies, one of the top global brands in seaborne shipping, including 2 NYSE-listed companies, with branches in cities all over the world, owning and managing more than 200 vessels (Bulk carriers, Tankers, Containers). Katerina is also the former president and current member of the BoD of AMMITEC, the Association of IT Managers in Shipping.

She has graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (EMP) with a degree in Naval / Mechanical Engineering and has a unique 35-years’ experience in IT and Communications. With more than 22 years in Shipping, having deep knowledge and experience in Marine Satellite systems, Shipping software, Business Analytics, Cyber Security, Risk Management, Compliance and IT Governance, Katerina has been holding managerial positions in various companies in Engineering & Shipping sector.

Her elegant leadership and project management on multimillion dollar development projects, along with her strategic planning and business development, provide her group with unique advantages.

Frank started his career in Athens, working for two established ship owners. In 2009 he joined Bernhard Schulte’s ship-owning arm in Hamburg, working up to the position of Technical Manager, supervising the fleet’s technical operations and performance management. In early 2016 Frank moved back to Athens and joined the group’s ship management arm, where he founded BSM’s Fleet Performance Centre and drove the development of the performance analytics platform that is currently used by the company’s fully managed fleet, comprising of approximately 450 vessels.

Since last year he is working as BSM’s Head of Data Governance & Analytics, focusing cross-functional analytics, governance and product development.

Frank holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Marine Engineering and Electrical Power Technology from Newcastle University, as well as a Master’s degree in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology.

Andromachi Demetriou graduated from Merchant Marine Academy of Aspropyrgos, Greece as a Captain C’ Class. Since then She has served as a Marine Officer aboard various types and sizes of ships e.g. cruise ships, cargo and roro/passenger ships across a diverse and multicultural environment.

During her studies she represented the Greek Ministry of Shippind and Island Policy @Poseidonia Exhibition. She was an acting General Secretary of Cyprus Marine Club, she participated on the 2nd CSN ICT conference in Cyprus and she is a member of WISTA UK.

Now she is 2nd Officer on Stena Line, a ferry company that connects Europe.

Her elegant leadership and project management on multimillion dollar development projects, along with her strategic planning and business development, provide her group with unique advantages.

Fotis Tsitsirigkos is Fleet IT Manager at Euronav. He manages a globally distributed IT team of skilled Fleet IT engineers, supporting 60+ vessels in their IT network, IT infrastructure, IT communications, and Cyber Security. He also leads all fleet IT operations, installations, and optimization projects to ensure a stable, secured and high-performing network on board of vessels and also the Integration between IT and OT systems that is a prerequisite for vessel automation projects. Before Euronav he held the position of IT Manager at Energy and Telecommunication Sector companies. His areas of interest are Cyber Security, IoT, Satellite Communication, Integration Projects, System Landscape Re-organization, System consolidation, ERP.

Fotis holds Executive MBA degree from University of Piraeus and Engineer’s degree from Polytechnion Kritis.

Anna Vazintari is occupied as the ICT Manager of Unisea Shipping Ltd., having been employed in the ICT sector of the Maritime industry for the past thirteen (13) years. She holds a PhD in Telecommunications and Networks from School of Electrical and Computers Engineering (ECE) of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), an MBA in Technoeconomics from NTUA and University of Piraeus (UNIPI) and a Bachelor degree from ECE, NTUA.

Since the acquisition of her university degree, she has been dealing both academically and professionally with different ICT sectors, such as Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM), energy efficiency in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), Maritime ICT and Internet of Things (IoT). From her current position, she has been leading various ICT-wise projects and she is responsible for conducting the cybersecurity policies of her company, always complying with the sectorial resolutions, requirements and published best practices. She is currently a member of the board of the AMMITEC association."

Michael Vrettos works as Marine Cyber Security Expert for RINA Classification Society in Piraeus.

He is responsible for Marine Cyber Security Services and is a member of IACS Cyber Systems Panel. His work experience includes working for the EU, NATO & the Defense sector. Among other things, he’s been involved in building a Network Security Operations Center and other international projects related to Cyber Technologies for the European Space Agency, EU & NATO.

He holds 2 master’s degrees (1 in the field of Cyber ​​Security & Digital Forensics) and professional certifications related to Information Security.

Nikos Ioakeim works with Navarino as an Innovation Consultant, responsible for exploring and identifying key technological trends to help shape company strategy, formulate high-level product designs and actively contribute to business analysis and development.

Additionally, Nikos is also a board member with two maritime technology start-ups. He has more than 13 years of experience in Information Technology operations in maritime, including positions in maritime companies such as IT infrastructure design, deployment and support, as well as customer support. He has also held leading technology positions in other sectiors including Pharmaceutical, Web Development & Hosting and ERP Systems.

Passionate about technology and open source software, Nikos has a lot of interest in areas such as IoT, Cyber Security and Automation Software and Linux operating systems.

Nikos holds an engineering degree in Computer Systems and Telecommunications from the University of Salford, UK and an Executive MBA from Alba Graduate Business School.

With more than 20 years of experience providing maritime IT and communications solutions to global fleets, David Tropp Hag has a deep understanding of the requirements for a successful maritime IT project – from technical management to onboard operations.

He has been instrumental in the success of KVH AgilePlans, which offers KVH’s global connectivity, VSAT hardware, news, entertainment, and training content, and free installation in as many as 4,000 ports and locations around the world. AgilePlans is a driving force behind KVH’s place as the maritime VSAT market share leader by units. Mr. Tropp Hag is responsible for all KVH mobile connectivity sales operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Antonios Trakakis graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Dept of National Technical University of Athens in 1989 and carried out graduate studies at von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in the field of Turbomachinery.

He started his professional career as Cadet Engineer in 1989 and continued in 1993 as 3rd Engineer. He worked as spare parts operator and Assistant Superintendent Engineer in ANEK Lines from 1994 to 1997 when he joined Superfast Ferries. He became Technical and Environmental Manager in 2000. Under the same capacity in 2006 he joined the newly established Soloi and in 2008 Hellenic Seaways. In 2010 he moved to Arista Shipping, an emerging company in the bulk carrier sector. In October 2020 he joined RINA as Technical Director, Marine Greece.

Antonios has extensive experience with the regular and irregular matters involved with the technical operations of a shipping company, as well as with new building projects, sea trials and factory testing of engines. He has studied extensively the challenges and benefits associated with the application of natural gas as fuel.

Vasileios G. Petousis graduated from the Chemical Engineering Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2008 and carried out graduate studies at the New York University of the USA in the field of Environmental Engineering. He started his professional career as Environmental Engineer in Langan Engineering Inc. in the USA and continued in 2012 as Technical Services and Process Optimization Engineer in Motor Oil Hellas. In 2015 he was assigned the position of Production Planning and Energy Excellence Engineer of the company’s refinery and in 2019 he joined the Supply and Trading team as a commodity trader specializing in Aviation and Military Fuels. In 2022 he joined Seanergy Maritime Holdings as the company’s Energy& Sustainability Officer.

Vasileios has extensive experience in handling technical and operational matters pertaining to the optimization of the day-to-day operations of energy systems as well as the development of new ways to reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency. Furthermore, he has specialized in the evaluation and utilization optimization of alternative fuels including biofuels, Natural Gas and Hydrogen.

Working since 2001 in the Greek Shipping Industry provided him with deep knowledge & experience in the Maritime ICT/IS sector-specific needs & procedures. Today, Efstratios (Stratos) Arvanitidis works as the ICT Manager of the Fleet Division at Angelicoussis Group IT Department and he manages a Team of highly skilled Fleet ICT Engineers, which designs, implements and supports 135+ vessels' ICT Infrastructure and daily needs on a 365x24x7 basis.

Stratos holds an MSc in Data Communication Systems, a Master in Business Administration and a Bachelor in Electronics Engineering. His main areas of interest are Satellite Communications, Digitalisation, Linux, Cyber Security and ITIL framework.

15+ years of experience in the digitalization of management processes for the Maritime sector, Fulvio Solari is in charge of the Sales Department of Arribatec Marine as Director. With a background in economics, he developed a strong technical competence in asset management solutions consultancy for ship managers and ship owner companies.

 George Zervos is the Head of Sales at Tototheo Maritime in Greece. George opens the line of communication between clients, customers, and businesses to take projects from their initial concept stage to their full conclusion. He is a proven dynamic business leader and determined professional with over 30 years sales and management experience in senior roles in private sectors. Throughout his career, George worked in direct and in-direct sales, across a broad portfolio of products and services in the IT and telecoms sectors, as well as 7 years niche experience in specialist airtime and software channel management in the maritime industry. He has experience in running and managing large international sales teams.

  George was the finalist and winner of many awards in the IT sector such as the Mancoolian Award for Business Development in 2015 and the Mimecast award in 2016. He was responsible for end-to-end management of sales activities, service and support in worldwide markets and countries during his time in GTMaritime in which he played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring an unprecedent growth to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

  He is now based in Athens, as the Regional Head of Sales for Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa. Alex is thoroughly enjoying his time with GT Maritme so far, working in an exciting, and forever growing industry.

Demetres Armanes is currently a managing principle engineer at the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). He holds a Ph.D. in Intelligent Control and a B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from The University of Liverpool. He worked as a Chartered Engineer designing Marine Programmable Electronic Systems, prior joining ABS in 2010 as the EMEA Account Manager for the ABS Fleet Management Software – Nautical Systems.

He is currently a lead research engineer on Model Based Hybrid-Electric marine solutions and Hardware in the Loop (HiL) testing for Marine Automation. He is also the official Greek Representative at ISO, focusing on International Standardization efforts regarding Smart and Autonomous Shipping.

 Christos Papandreou is Energy Efficiency & Fleet Performance Engineer at StormGeo. He holds an MΕng in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

 Having acquired almost a decade of experience in energy efficiency & management, and performance monitoring, Christos is responsible for helping shipping companies achieve goals towards technical & environmental performance. He has participated in numerous projects related to monitoring the vessels' performance through classic or modern AI/data-driven methodologies.

George Gkorgkolis was an engineer at the Hellenic Airforce where he held various IT positions. He has significant “hands on” experience in the Maritime Cyber security domain and has been involved in numerous Cyber security projects provided to many Maritime Companies. He has attended and overseen more than 100 vessel installations in the past 6 years.

He holds CISSP and CiSA certificates, among others.

Today George works as the Chief Technology Officer for K2 Informatics in Athens.

As Cobham SATCOM's User Engagement Manager Chris role is to listen to shipping companies' connectivity & communication requirements, understand the challenges faced and advise on the appropriate technology to solve these challenges for a solution fit for today and into the future. He has over a decade of experience providing connectivity and communication solutions to the maritime industry.

Joined the ICT Shipping industry in 2005. Currently with 17 years of experience, as an IT Manager with Hellas Confidence Shipmanagement S.A., he is responsible for the daily support of the fleet in IT/OT matters along with the management of enhancement or regulation-driven IT projects and the IT infrastructure of the company’s premises.

Holds an MSc from the University of Piraeus in the field of network-centric systems along with CCNA and CEH certifications.